VINELAND -- A South Woods State Prison corrections officer and his wife, who worked at a Vineland doctor's office, have been charged in a prescription drug scheme, police announced today.

Police were notified of a suspected scheme last Tuesday when they were dispatched to the Chestnut Avenue office of Southern Oncology-Hematology Associates on a report of an employee suspected of calling in bogus Hydrocodone and Alprazolam prescriptions to area pharmacies, Vineland Police Det. Lt. Thomas Ulrich said.

Joseph Felice

The suspect was identified as Daphnae Felice, 36, of Hance Bridge Road, Millville. Police allege Felice used her position in the doctor's office and her routine contact with area pharmacists and pharmacy employees to facilitate the crime.

The initial reports indicated Felice had called in 43 prescriptions to the Millville Rite Aid under her mother's name. Her mother is not a patient of the practice, according to police.

Det. Dominick Ferrari's follow-up investigation revealed Felice had in fact called in 72 prescriptions to four area pharmacies, Ulrich said. The 72 prescriptions were for Hydrocodone, Alprazolam, Oxycodone, Tramadol, Prochlorperazine -- drugs that all can be classified as pain killers -- and totaled more than $7,000.